The Future Mail System

Of March 1st's 20+ anniversaries, the one that caught my eye most was that of Future Mail Day 未来郵便の日 (Mirai Yubin no Hi). After reading more about it, I am even more intrigued. Did you know there is a unique service in Japan called Future Mail which has more than one million pieces of "future mail". Future mail is as it sounds, mail that was written to be delivered in the future. I find this truly fascinating.

It all started with the work of the Sakae Village International Etegami Time Capsule Museum in Nagano. And the museum and its operating company established the Future Mail day, choosing March 1 because “3‑1” can be read as mi‑rai (未来) — “future.” The museum opened in 2007 and launched a unique service called 未来ゆうびん (Future Mail), which allows people to write a letter or etegami (hand‑painted postcard) and have it delivered five or ten years later on a date they choose. The goal is to preserve personal messages, memories, and hopes, and reconnect people across time. 

The roots of the museum go back to a 2000 project by the Japan Etegami Association titled “Goodbye 20th Century, Hello 21st Century.” It collected 630,000 etegami from Japan and abroad. They are kept permanently as cultural records and as messages for future generations.

Had you heard of "future mail" before? Any chance you participated in the project and / or organized to have mail delivered in the future? I will be looking it into further, because it's really piqued my interest!